Turning a Corner: Pakistan Elections Offer Promise, Brian Katulis and Caroline Wadhams Pakistan's Leap of Faith, Brian Katulis Russia's Subtle Shift on Iran, Andrew J. Grotto Pentagon Faces a Battle on Climate Change, John Podesta and Peter Ogden Fidel Castro Resigns: Opportunity for Change, Dan Restrepo The Greatest Threat to Us All, Joseph Cirincione The Ban on Head Scarves Had to Go, Spencer P. Boyer State of the Americas Event, Center for American Progress Pakistan Election and Change in U.S. Policy, Brian Katulis Progress in Iraq Reshapes Debate Over War, Lawrence Korb U.S. Stake in Pakistan Election, Joseph Cirincione Kosovar Independence, Spencer Boyer Surge Exposing Political Tensions, Brian Katulis Brian Katulis and Caroline Wadhams, "Turning a Corner: Pakistan Elections Offer Promise," Center for American Progress, February 19, 2008 Yesterday’s parliamentary elections in Pakistan may go down in history as the first peaceful transition of political power in this country. Although the country’s Election Commission has not yet released final results, the early returns point to a trouncing of President Pervez Musharraf’s party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Q, by the two leading opposition parties, the late Benazir Bhutto’s Pakistan’s People’s Party and Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League-N. Click here to read the full article. Click here to see a slideshow of photos taken by Brian Katulis and Evan B. Smith which depict some of their experience as election monitors in Pakistan. Brian Katulis, "Pakistan's Leap of Faith," The Guardian Comment is Free, February 19, 2008 Final results in Pakistan's general elections are not yet in, but if the early signs are an accurate indication, the February 2008 elections will go down in history as a major defeat for President Pervez Musharraf and the political forces aligned with him. Depending on how the post-election bargaining develops, this election could actually go down as the first time in Pakistan's 60 year history when a peaceful transition of political power occurred. Click here to read the full article. Andrew J. Grotto, "Russia's Subtle Shift on Iran," Arms Control Wonk, February 14, 2008 Iran’s ballistic missile tests last week have sparked unusually harsh criticism from Russia. According to the BBC, Russian officials have said the tests "raised suspicion over the true aim of [Iran’s] nuclear programme." This is a remarkable coming from Moscow, and the latest sign of a potentially significant shift in Russia’s stance on Iran. Through 2007, Russia was the main obstacle in UNSC efforts to tighten the thumb screws on Iran, preferring bilateral diplomacy with Tehran over the international sanctions route. Click here to read the full article. John Podesta and Peter Ogden, "Pentagon Faces a Battle on Climate Change," Financial Times, February 13, 2008 In the run-up to the United Nations climate change conference in Bali, businesspeople implored political leaders to take bold steps to combat global warming. They insisted that their ability to undertake effective long-term planning was undermined by uncertainty about the future cost of carbon emissions. Yet their calls for action were ignored. Perhaps the outcome would have been different if the world’s single largest organisation – the Pentagon – had joined the chorus. After all, it also needs to know what kind of environment to prepare for to allocate its vast resources efficiently. Planning for future contingencies is a long-term process, as force structure and weapons systems have to be co-ordinated at least a decade in advance. Click here to read the full article. Dan Restrepo, "Fidel Castro Resigns, End of an Era Creates Opportunity for Change," Center for American Progress, February 19, 2008 Fidel Castro’s formal resignation as Cuba’s president marks the end of an era. Although it remains unclear how much influence he will continue to wield, after 49 years of formal rule by Fidel Castro, it is clear that Cuba will never be the same. It is also long past time for the free will of the Cuban people on the island to guide its future. Unfortunately, neither the United States government nor the successor regime in Cuba appears prepared to deal with what comes next. At this historic time, a continuation of the status quo or a hardening of positions, either in Cuba or in U.S. policy toward Cuba, are not viable options. Click here to read the full article. Léalo en español. Joseph Cirincione, "The Greatest Threat to Us All," The New York Review of Books (March 6 Edition) Joseph Cirincione reviews four books dealing with the threat of nuclear weapons. He writes: "The disastrous conflict in Iraq has long since shown how misguided the Bush Doctrine was; recently its deeper flaws have been exposed by the new National Intelligence Estimate on Iran and by such events as the assassination of Benazir Bhutto and the intensification of the crisis in Pakistan. The new NIE—representing the unanimous opinion of all sixteen US intelligence agencies—concluded that Iran had ended its work on building a nuclear weapon in 2003. 'Tehran's decision to halt its nuclear weapons program suggests it is less determined to develop nuclear weapons than we have been judging since 2005,' the agencies said. 'We do not know whether [Iran] currently intends to develop nuclear weapons.'" Click here to read the full review. Spencer P. Boyer, "The Ban on Head Scarves Had to Go," The Root, February 19, 2008 Turkey's parliament voted overwhelmingly this month to end a ban on women wearing head scarves at universities.  While this move was decried by Turkey's secular elite, it was the proper thing to do.  The ban was originally intended to limit the role of Islam in the public sphere, but it wound up inflaming the passions of religious Turks who wished to freely and publicly observe their Islamic faith. Perhaps the biggest lesson from the head scarf debate is how difficult it is for a secular society with religious underpinnings to trust that its democratic institutions are strong enough to embrace full freedom of expression. Click here to read the full article. "State of the Americas Event Tackles Western Hemisphere Relations," Center for American Progress, February 14, 2008 The diverse economies of Latin America have made significant progress recently, even in light of the recent concerns of economic downturn, said Luis Alberto Moreno, the president of the Inter-American Development Bank at a Center for American Progress event yesterday. There is “cause for cautious optimism” as the Americas look to the future, said Moreno, but there is “no place for complacency” on issues of trade, development, and inter-American relations. Click here to read the full event summary. NPR - Brian Katulis discusses Pakistan's elections on NPR. Katulis, who has been in Pakistan as an election observer, said, "This represents a possible opening to shift to a new strategy that is not so focused on personalities but is rather focused on developing a more comprehensive approach that's trying to build stronger relations with the Pakistani people and to help the development of this country, not purely through the military lens but through economic development." USA Today - Lawrence Korb talks about  talks about the U.S. military surge in Iraq. Korb aruges that most troops should be withdrawn as soon as possible. Reuters TV - Joseph Cirincione says that the elections in Pakistan took the Bush administration off guard. "This was not the way it was supposed to be. They were trying to manage some kind of transition. They were trying to find someone who could support Musharaff, because their view was that they needed a strong man to both fight the Islamic fundamentalists in Pakistan and fight the Taliban in Afghanistan. That policy has now collapsed." Russia Today - Spencer Boyer comments on Kosovo's declaration of independence. "I certainly think it was the only option available. Kosovo has made it clear that independence was the only option going forward … There are a lot of questions moving forward, and I think Kosovo’s going to have a lot of hard work to do.” Inter Press Service - Brian Katulis discusses the recent Center for American Progress report on the Awakening groups in Iraq. "Rather than facilitating reconciliation between Shiites and Sunnis, the main concern we raise in the paper is that these efforts are undermining the overall effort of getting to a political reconciliation among Iraq's leaders." The Future of U.S. International Economic Policy February 19, 2008 Against the backdrop of slowing U.S. economic growth, rapid changes in the world economy, and ongoing public ambivalence regarding the benefits of globalization, some have called for a strategic review, or pause for reflection, with respect to U.S. international economic policy. Looking at trade as well as development and monetary policy, a distinguished panel of experts will discuss the possible future direction of U.S. policy in a new administration. Click here for more information. Sign up: Policy e-newsletters The Progress Report To unsubscribe, click here Support the Center for American Progress Comments, questions: Email Us National Security Policy Weekly is a product of the Center for American Progress. www.americanprogress.org | contact us | unsubscribe